Valve



J. BROWN March 15, 1932.

VALVE Filed June 28, 1930 Patented Mar. 15, 1932 UNITED STATES PORATION, OFJYEILWA UKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF PATENT O FICER JEROME BROWN, or MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin, ASSIGNOB TO names a s'rrm'r ron' cora VALVE Application filed June 28,

This invention relates .to certain new and useful improvements in valves and refers more particularly to air valves for use with punch presses and similar machines.

' Practically all types of punch and forming presses and in fact all machines having. work engaging surfaces, such as dies, require cleaning of their work engaging or die surfaces after each press operation, and this cleaning function isbest obtained by the use of compressed air. Obviously it is desirable that automatic means be provided for open? ing the valve controlling the flow of air, upon each operation of the machine, and While many devices have been proposed for this service, they were unreliable and could not withstand the extreme hard usage or meet the exacting demands imposed upon them.

Another objection to valve devices of the character described heretofore proposed was the fact that they could not be readily adapted to the many varying types ofmachines on which such valves are desirable.

It is, therefore, an objectof thisinvention to provide an air Valve of the character described which is rugged in construction to withstand the hard usage to which it may be subjected, and which is so constructed asto be practically universal in its application and to thus greatly facilitate its installation on presses and kindred machines of all types.

A Another object of this invention resides in the provision of improved means :for actuating or opening the valve upon each operation of the machine. V 1 v V I And a further object of this invention is to simplify and improve the general construction of a'valve of the character described.

With-the above and other objects in view which will appearas the description proceeds, my invention resides in thenovel con,- struction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the hereindisclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated one complete example of the phys- 19so. ser al No. 464,540.

ical embodiment of myinvention constructed 7 according to the best mode I have so far devised for the practical application of the a v 1 Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view partly in elevation and partly'in section of the valve per se shown detached from the press, and t Figure at is a bottom view of the valve and illustrating thev manner of attaching the same to a machine;

Referring now more particularly'toithe accompanying drawings in which like numerals-designate-like parts throughout the several views, the numeral 5 represents the frame of a conventional punch press having a lower or fixed diesupportingplatform 6 and a reciprocable ram or plunger 7 carrying a movable die supporting member 8. V e

The ram or plunger 7 is adapted to be reciprocated in its guides 9 by a crank shaft 10 journaled in bearings 11 at the upper end of the frame sides and connected with the ram by a connectingrod12.

One end of the crank shaft 10-is extended. to mount a fly wheel 13 with whicha belt or other driving element, notshown, cooperates to impart driving force to the press. Any conventional manner of controlling the operation of the press in cycles as is customary may be employed but as this feature been shown. a .l i To clean the dies and" particularly the lower die at thecompletion of each pressingope eration, compressed air from a suitable source, not shown, is lead through a pipe v 14 to avalve 15 from which a copper or other flexible tube 16 extends to have its discharge end 17 located adjacent the. die, the ;valve 15 controlling the flow of air to the discharge. end

forms no part of, this inventionit has not v 17 and opening at the completion .of each ressing operation in a manner now about to e described.

The valve 15 housed isf t'acoupling member 2 1 threaded in the upper outer end of the chamber 19; forming a seat for the'spring. The air inlet, pipe 14: is connected with the housing chamber 19' by the pipe coupling 24 and one end of the transverse bore 21 is communicated with the upper end of the tube 16, the opposite end of the transverse bore 21 being closed by a conventional pipe plug 25.

Upon opening of the valve 22 by lifting the same from its seat surrounding the valve opening 20, communication is established between the compressed air inlet and the tube 16, and to open the valve upon the completion of each pressing operation of the machine, a stem 26 extends-downwardly from the valve across the transverse bore 21 and outwardly to project from the lower end of the body 18, as at 27.

Also projectin downwardly from the bottom of the housing 18 are two apertu-red ears 28 to one of which an actuating lever 29 is pivotallyconnected by a pin 30. The actuating lever 29, as best illustrated in Figure 4:, is substantially H-shaped having its opposite ends bifurcated to provide armsspaced apart a distance slightly greater than the widthof the ears 28 and the central portion 31 of the H shaped actuating lever is so located as to lie directly beneath and to engage the lower end 27 of the valve stem 26. r A light spring 32' connected at one on with the actuating lever-by screw 33 and at its other end with the valve body by'a screw 34 normally maintains the lever 29 in a position slightly spaced from the valve stem end 27, the slight space, which is desirable to insure positive'seating of the valve, being afforded by making the spring 32 of such lengththat it is completely contracted when in its normal condition. N t

The outer free end of the actuating lever has anti-friction means, such as a roller 35 pivotally mounted thereon by a pin 36, and which when the valve is properly mounted on the machine as illustrated in Figure 1, is positioned in the path of a cam member 37. In the present instance the cam consists of a strip of metal suitably bent and secured to one of the disc shaped crank arms 38 so that uponeach revolution of the crank shaft 10 the cam 37 engages the roller 35 and lifts the free end of the actuating lever 29 to open the valve, the cam 37 being so located on its disc shaped crank arm that it leaves the roller 35 and permits the valve to close just before the press comes to rest at the completion of its stroke.

The valve is mounted on the press or other machine with which it is used by a stud 40 secured to a suitable portion of the machine and slidably received in a bore formed in a lug 39 cast integral with'the, valve body.

"A set screw 41 provided with a lock nut 42 serves to secure the valve in any position of adjustment on the mounting stud 4:0, as will be readily apparent.

In the installation illustrated, only one outlet, i. e., only one side of thetransverse bore 21 is used, but if desired the pipe'plug 25 may be replaced by a secondtube similar to the tube 16 and in this manner one valve might simultaneously control the passage of compressed air to two places on the machine. It is of course also obvious'that the single tube 16 might be connected on the opposite side of the transverse bore and if desired, the valve may be connected with a manifold hav ing several outlets. It is also apparent that the valve may be used to eject work from a die 'or other machine part without deviating from the spirit of the invention.

' To further facilitate the application of the valve to various installations, the actuating lever 29 is readily removably connected with the valve body and may thus be attached to either apertured ear 28 to locate its free end carrying the roller 35 on either side of the valve. Similarly the spring 32 may be attached on either side of the actuating lever.

Fromthe foregoing descriptiomtaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which an invention of the character described appertains, that I- provide a novel air valve which is particularly adapted for use with punch presses and kindred machines to control the flow of compressed air over the dies at the completion of each machine operation, and is ruggedly constructed to' Withstand the extreme hard usage to which itis subjected, and further is readilyapplicable to many different types of'machines.

' What I claim as my invention is z 1. In a valve of the character described, including a body member provided withan inlet and an outlet and a valve for normally closing the inlet from the outlet, avalvestem projecting from one wall of the valve body, mounting ears on opposite sides of the valve stem, an actuating lever, means for pivotally connecting one end of the actuating lever with either of the mounting ears, the medial portion of the actuating lever being engageable with the valve stemwith the-actuating lever connected with either -ear,-and antifriction means carried by the free end of the actuating lever adapted to be engaged by a movable element to depress the valve stem and open the valve.

2. In a valve of the character described, comprising a body including an inlet and an outlet and a valve for normally closing the inlet from the outlet, a valve stem projecting from one end of the valve body, mounting ears projecting from the valve body on opposite sides of the valve stem, a substantially H shaped actuating lever, means for pivotally connecting one end of the actuating lever with either mounting ear whereby its medial portion is disposed in the path of and is engageable with the valve stem to depress the same, means yieldably maintaining the actuating lever adjacent the valve stem, and anti-friction means carried by the free end of the actuating lever and with which a movable element is engageable to actuate the lever and depress the valve stem.

3. In a valve of the character described including a body having an inlet and an outlet and a valve for normally closing the inlet from the outlet, a valve stem projecting from one end of the valve body, mounting ears projecting from the valve body on opposite sides of the valve stem, an actuating lever having its ends bifurcated to straddle both mounting ears, means pivotally connecting the spaced arms at one end of the actuating lever with one of the mounting ears, movement of the free end of the actuating lever toward the valve body depressingthe valve stem to open the valve, and spring means for yieldably maintaining the actuating lever adjacent to but slightly spaced from the valve stem.

4. In a valve of the character described, including a body portion having aninlet and an outlet and a valve for normally closing the inlet from the outlet, a valve stem proj ecting from one end of the body, a mounting ear projecting from said end of the valve body, an actuating lever for operating said valve stem having its ends bifurcated to straddle said mounting car at one end of said lever and to mount an antifriction roller at the other end thereof, means pivotally connecting the spaced arms at one end of the V actuating lever with said ear, an anti-friction roller rotatably mounted between the spaced arms of the lever at the opposite end thereof and means projecting from said body to guide said lever in the path of its movement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

JEROME BROWN. 

